Khodorkovsky charged with money-laundering

Russian prosecutors on Monday brought new charges against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a move likely to bury the politically ambitious tycoon's hopes of release from jail before 2008 presidential elections.

Khodorkovksy, the founder of the YUKOS oil major and once one of Russia's wealthiest and most powerful men , will now be tried on money-laundering charges, his lawyer said.

He is already serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.

Money laundering is punishable in Russia by up to 10 years in prison.

If the charges are proved in court, some of the new sentence could be added to Khodorkovsky's existing term.

"One thing all lawyers agree on is that the new charges are absurd," Khodorkovsky's lawyer Karina Moskalenko said by telephone. "They are crazy from start to end."

Khodorkovsky's business associate Platon Lebedev was also charged with similar offences on Monday. He too is serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.

The Prosecutor-General's office later released a statement confirming the new charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev.

Khodorkovsky's imprisonment has been widely seen as part of a Kremlin campaign to punish him for his involvement in politics, a taboo for tycoons under President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin has denied any political motivation behind the trial, which ended in May 2005.

Under Russian law, Khodorkovsky could apply for early release from October this year, when he will have served half of his sentence.

A member of the Khodorkovsky legal team linked the new charges with the 2008 presidential election, when Putin must step down and a successor is to be chosen.

"(The) important thing is the tremendous fear Russia has ... that Mr Khodorkovsky might either become politically active because he was due for a possible parole later this year or that he might finance political parties," said lawyer Robert Amsterdam.

Analysts say Khodorkovsky, who made a fortune in murky privatisations in the early 1990s, is not popular among voters and has no chance of becoming a key figure in the presidential polls.

But his political independence, backed by solid financial resources, could cause headaches for a Kremlin keen to ensure a smooth handover of power to a new leader who will continue Putin's policies.

YUKOS, once Russia's biggest and most profitable oil company, was driven into bankruptcy by back-tax claims. The firm's receiver said last month that YUKOS owed its creditors 667.8 billion roubles (£12.92 billion), up from the previously announced 492 billion roubles.

"The Prosecutor-General's office views as criminal practically all YUKOS activities, its creation, oil extraction and sales," Lebedev's lawyer Konstantin Rivkin said commenting on the new charges.

"Every step, every sneeze of theirs ... has been found to be criminal."

Rivkin said the charges against Lebedev, similar to ones filed against Khodorkovsky, were contained in a 148-page document.

It was officially announced to the two in the city of Chita, close to the Chinese border, where they are being held.